Francophonie head Abdou Diouf visits Abidjan Wednesday

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF) secretary general and former Senegalese President Abdou Diouf is scheduled to begin a three-day visit here Wednesday evening, reliable sources told PANA in the Ivorian.
According to an official programme, Diouf will travel to Yamoussoukro, 240 km north of Abidjan, where he will pray on the grave of Cote d'Ivoire's first Ivorian President, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, who died in December 1993.
He will also visit the Yamoussoukro polytechnic institute.
After returning to Abidjan, Diouf is scheduled to have lunch and an audience with the Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, the programme says.
The OIF secretary general will also hold discussions on the political situation in Cote d'Ivoire with Prime Minister Seydou Elimane Diarra and Albert Tevoejre of Benin, who heads the Linas-Marcoussis agreement follow-up committee.
Before leaving Abidjan Saturday afternoon, Diouf will meet leaders of main Ivorian political parties, religious leaders, ambassadors from French-speaking countries, as well as the New Forces, a coalition of the three former rebel groups.
Ivorian authorities have requested for OIF assistance to organise the 2005 presidential elections.
Lansana Kouyate of Guinea is the OIF's observer in the Ivorian Political-military crisis, which has split the country into two since the 19 September 2002 insurrection by a portion of the national army.